Bartolo kicks back over criticism of his ‘rudderless Labour’ missive

Labour Party grandee and former minister Evarist Bartolo has evidently received flak for a social media missive in which he equated Robert Abela’s administration as a “rudderless ship”.

Bartolo used couched terms to describe Malta as being held by a “half-hearted captain” and with no alternative crew to take over the helm. Days later in a morning post on Facebook, Bartolo has now posted a long post testifying to the flak and “stoning” he has taken for expressing his views.

“I don’t expect to have the right answer in anything I saw and write. I’m grateful that my words might provoke or cause someone to reflect on what I say. Certainly, I don’t expect anyone to agree with everything I say.”

Bartolo’s post was presaged by a long introduction explaining how the young politician who joined Labour 43 years ago despite hailing from a Nationalist family. “I didn’t inherit my political views. I developed them. I reflected deeply. I chose which party to be in. I respect those who make different choices. No one should have any monopoly on what is right.”

Bartolo also said he joined Labour at a time when it was being overtaken by thug violence, corruption and poor management in the 1970s.

As education minister in the Muscat administration, Bartolo said Labour after 2013 had changed the country, but said the former PM had failed to take the necessary steps to avert the crisis prompted by the Panama Papers. “And I worked enthusiastically with Robert Abela to amplify our country’s voice and esteem amongst others,” he said, referring to his last role as foreign minister before failing to be re-elected in 2022.

“We all have our shortcomings. I don’t claim that political parties are made up of saints. But they should not be breeding grounds for everything that’s negative,” he said of the criticism he had apparently received in the past week.

“I’ve been criticised for being too loyal to Labour at times... now they say I speak as I do because I did not make it to parliament, or even worse... but I will still continue to believe in those same values I had dedicated myself to. To me loyalty is no white lie for a friend or a black-hearted one to say to an enemy.”

Bartolo said Malta had to fight its clientelistic and tribal ways, make use of all talents available and not just those from party circles, and that political parties should not punch down.

“It’s a pity that we politicians often end up competing with each other, instead of working together for the greater good. We waste a lot of energy in political debates – and on social media this has become ever more extreme – to the extent that we are scaring off the right people from entering politics as part of a social commitment, rather than some private investment.”

Evarist Bartolo: Labour needs an ‘act of contrition’